AU professor from Visakhapatnam receives Nari Shakti Puraskar

Andhra University (AU) professor from Visakhapatnam, Prasanna Sree has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi on Tuesday. The English Professor has been awarded for her efforts towards preserving tribal languages. She is also the first woman to have devised alphabets for 19 Indian tribal languages.

In an effort to give Adivasis a medium to preserve their folklore and songs, she decided to give their languages a script. Hailing from the Tribal community herself, Dr Prasanna Sree switches effortlessly between English, Telugu, Hindi, and Bengali. In a conversation with Yo! Vizag, she mentioned there was always a strong inhibition to do something for the Adivasis, and with her experience of living in various states accompanying her father who worked in the railways, she had a stronghold over multiple languages.

“I feel extremely happy that my efforts have been recognised by the Government of India. The ultimate goal would be to bring these languages into academics, so the children from the Adivasi groups feel comfortable going to schools,” said Prasanna.

Entitling the reserved community as the society’s first people, she believes these languages are on the verge of extinction and need to be preserved in their true spirit. The ardent professor is headstrong to continue her work and ensure many other tribal languages are preserved.

She has previously been awarded the Sarvepalli Radhakrishna Award for Best Academician 2015, and also holds the Limca Book of Records. The AU professor is also the author of 26 books and has won a place in the ‘World Atlas of Endangered Alphabets’, for her scriptures.

She urged politicians and the Government to consider drafting policies around the inclusion of Tribal languages into academics. The Visakhapatnam professor won the Nari Shakti Puraskar for devising alphabets for tribal languages like Kolam, Konda Dhora, Bagatha, Gadaba et.